Finding the Best 100 Roses: Our Tips & Advice

Let’s talk buying fresh roses!

Yes, roses are impressive—and 100 red roses is the ultimate flower gift. 

To find the best bets, we asked our readers for their real-world experiences with buying roses online. Then we tried a few brands ourselves. Finally, we looked at third-party tests of other online florists . . . which flowers looked best in the real world?

We also interviewed a florist to get tips and advice on buying roses—and making sure they look their best when given as a gift.

Here are some key pieces of advice:

• Timing matters. Consider ordering flowers early in the week. Some vendors offer overnight shipping, but won’t do deliveries on Saturday or Sunday. 

• Most roses arrive as buds. You need to rehydrate them with lukewarm water to get them to open! Also: change the water every two to three days to avoid bacterial growth. If your roses arrive with a food packet, use it! This helps with rehydrating and blooming.

• Stems should be trimmed. Cut about 1″ off the stems to make sure water can effectively rehydrate the roses. Trim the stems every three days by at least another half inch—this keeps roses looking their best.

• Never put flowers in direct sunlight. Cooler locations are better than warm—a counter away from heat sources is best.

Here are the best 100 roses we found:

About the Authors

Denise & Alan Fields are consumer advocates and best-selling authors. The Fields have authored 12 books with three million copies in print, including the best-selling guide to baby gear, Baby Bargains.

The Fields have been featured and quoted in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Los Angeles Times.

As consumer products experts, the Fields have been guests on the NBC Today Show, Good Morning America and ABC’s 20/20.

How We Pick Products To Recommend

We often turn to our readers (3 million strong!) to find products to recommend. We ask our parent readers for their favorites and consider their real-world experiences in our recommendations.

When we test a product, we always purchase it with our own monies. We do not take free samples, as we believe that compromises our independence.

We also fact check manufacturer information with our own measurements. If a maker claims a product weighs X pounds, we will weigh it to make sure. If the battery life is supposed to be six hours, we will see how it stands up in the real world.

In some cases, we will do interviews with experts in the field to get additional feedback on products.

To get hands-on time with products, we regularly meet one-on-one with gear companies and even tour manufacturing facilities. (When we do this, we pay our own travel expenses).

Why Trust Us

We’ve been rating and reviewing products for the home and families since 1994. We do extensive research, evaluating products with an eye toward quality, ease of use and affordability.

We make our living from affiliate commissions, but we always recommend what we think are the best bets for our readers (not the ones that are the most expensive). We are always looking for products that offer the best bang for the buck.

Our independence is a key reason why we have been doing this so long. As we mentioned above, when we purchase a product for hands-on testing, we do so with our own money.

Here’s another key point: we don’t take money from the brands we review. No free samples, no sponsors, no “partnerships.” Our work is 100% reader-supported!